As Tim noted in this item, Dubya's deception about Rumsfeld was simply one of a long litany of deception, obfuscation, mendacity and flat-out lying to the American people. Now we have this song-and-dance about our military commanders and the "heckuva good job" they'd been doing, followed by throwing everyone overboard in a general housecleaning (pun absolutely intended).

Look again at this classic exchange from his Nov. 8, 2006 post-election news conference:

- - - - -

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Last week you told us that Secretary Rumsfeld will be staying on. Why is the timing right now for this, and how much does it have to do with the election results?

THE PRESIDENT: Right. No, you and Hunt and Keil came in the Oval Office, and Hunt asked me the question one week before the campaign, and basically it was, are you going to do something about Rumsfeld and the Vice President? And my answer was, they're going to stay on. And the reason why is I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign. And so the only way to answer that question and to get you on to another question was to give you that answer.

The truth of the matter is, as well -- I mean, that's one reason I gave the answer, but the other reason why is I hadn't had a chance to visit with Bob Gates yet, and I hadn't had my final conversation with Don Rumsfeld yet at that point.

- - - - -

Dubya evidently has no belief that words need to convey literal truth -- so his words obviously exist only in the moment, and are used to create momentary impressions, nothing more. As long as people refuse to hold him accountable for what he says and does, though, we can expect more of the same -- the truth be damned.

This was the famous "Credibility Gap" during the Vietnam era -- seems to me we literally have a CREDIBILITY CANYON with this entire administration!

This verbatim quote from Dubya sums up his style in two sentences: "And so the only way to answer that question and to get you on to another question was to give you that answer."

It should be the epitaph engraved on his headstone.

"Jumbo Shrimp"

After a lifetime of being blissfully non-partisan (never registering as a Democrat OR a Republican), I eagerly signed up as a Republican in 2000 for just one reason: so I could vote for that straight shooter, Sen. John McCain. What a complete and utter disappointment he has turned into.

What did he really believe in 2000? What does he believe now? His blatant attempts to be born-again as a hard-right Christian conservative ring as hollow as Dubya's head.

Anyone with any sense knew pretty much what Dubya was, and is; as a result, he cannot be a true "disappointment". To be sure, many voters are suffering obvious buyer's remorse at this late date, but the only real surprise about this President and his administration is exactly HOW BAD he and they turned out to be.

What, then, can you say about McCain? He's revealed himself to be the worst kind of politician, willing to slice and dice his beliefs to suit the situation, becoming the exact opposite of what he professed to be six years ago. I have no problem with leaders changing their minds -- if only the Current Occupant could do that! But McCain's machinations are clearly designed with only one goal in mind -- to gain the Republican nomination in 2008. Nothing more, nothing less.

I sincerely regret my support of McCain in 2000 -- just as many Senators recanted their Iraq votes when talking to ABC, "If I knew then what I know now, I would never have supported McCain for the nomination that year."

Now, as for Dubya, my conscience is clear -- nope, no way, never ever, not in this lifetime. But heaven help us if McCain succeeds in this final attempt at the Presidency.

Giving Gen. Casey the post of Army Chief of Staff means, above all, that his lips will be zipped, and no criticism of the President or his Iraq policy will come from HIM.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."

Someone like Dubya survived only because the collective memory hole of the general public had become a black hole from which little escaped. Aided and abetted by most media outlets, the public was negligent far too long.

Most now realize the Current Occupant actually represents the polar opposite of the Emerson situation. His small mind doesn't even recognize or acknowledge inconsistency, foolish or otherwise. Accordingly, here's a stab at a new aphorism that applies here:

"Only a fool looks for consistency, or logic, in the small minds of small men."